Absentee voters gave Lackawanna City Council candidate John Ingram an apparent victory Tuesday over Mohamed Albanna, breaking a tie in the Conservative Party primary, the two candidates said.

Ingram and Albanna, who finished the Sept. 12 primary for the First Ward seat tied 28-28, both said Ingram received 17 absentee votes and Albanna two absentee votes when elections officials counted them.

The results will not be official until the Erie County Board of Elections completes a recanvass that starts at 10 a.m. Wednesday, said Mario Alaimo, a Board of Elections worker. In a recanvass, local elections officials go through paper ballots as well as voting machine tapes to double-check the vote tallies.

If the Conservative primary outcome becomes official, the Nov. 7 general election ballot will have Albanna on the Democratic line and Ingram on the Conservative and on an independent party line.